Oakland County Health Division offers back-to-school vaccinations

FILE: Erika Garascia (center) and her 9 year old son Alex (left) of Waterford receive their H1N1 flu shots from Oakland County Health Division Nurse Beth Hella RN (right) at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Oakland Press/DOUG BAUMAN

Back-to-school vaccinations

• Cash, credit cards, insurance, Medicaid and Medicare will be accepted for payment.

Doctors from the Oakland County Health Division are concerned for area children who could potentially go to school this fall without their proper vaccinations. In an effort to ease this concern, the Health Division offices in Pontiac and Southfield will provide immunizations this month to beat the August back-to-school rush.

County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said vaccinating your child is important to their survival.

“Vaccines can save your child’s life,” he said. “Vaccinating your child can protect them against 14 different diseases such as chickenpox and pertussis.”

Health officials concur and claim illness has increased due to a decrease in the vaccination of children.

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“Vaccines have greatly reduced and even eliminated many diseases that killed or severely disabled people just a few generations ago,” said Kathy Forzley, Health Division manager. “Vaccinations allow parents to trust that diseases of today will no longer be around to harm their children in the future. But we are seeing an increase in some diseases that we have not seen in years because of not fully vaccinating or vaccinating on an alternative schedule.”

According to research from the Oakland County Health Division, dangerous colds to children such as pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, have increased just in Oakland County in the past year from 32 cases in 2013 to 68. Chickenpox, another life-threatening disease, has increased from 38 cases in 2013 to 54 in Oakland County already this year.

Dr. Pamela B. Hackert, Oakland County Health Division chief of medical services, said it is too much of a risk to not get vaccinated.

“They (vaccinations) are considered safe and the risks are almost nonexistent,” Hackert said. “But the sickness is real.”

Hackert added people are oblivious to possible disease risks, because they have been suppressed from vaccinations.

“We have been lulled into a state of thought think that they (diseases) are not there, because the vaccine are so successful,” Hackert said.